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“Melancholy” was the word Consuelo Castiglioni used to describe her autumn/winter 13 collection today. It’s a mood that seems to have swept over Milan this season in severe slicked back styling, dark palettes and defensive collars up, on and off the catwalks. At Marni, the melancholia manifested in a backdrop of bare, lonely trees, which branched onto silk dresses and voluminous suits in digital print. Drake Burnette opened the show, the actress who plays the lead in Larry Clark’s new-ish film Marfa Girl, a complicated, dark role, that inevitably surfaced and had a dramatic impact on the opening look: a huge mink scarf on bare shoulders, with blood red lips. Fur hoods, stoles and criss-crossed fur straps on woollen tube dresses and pleated skirts mixed decadence with austerity while furry monster gloves romanticised the bleak winter. Castiglioni introduced a complex layering system with tunics that hung over dresses, fastened with leather straps at the back, and throughout, fabrics and garments were deconstructed, then put back together with two-tone furs, mohair next to wool, and seams cuttings shapes on the body. It was severe in the most attractive way, a dark, interesting collection that was dramatic enough to create a mood, but accessible enough to be very, very desirable.
Text: Sarah Raphael
Photography: Mitchell Sams
